Monthly Archives: February 2014

Elena standing proudly at the finish line after completing her 10k Dubai Marathon journey | The Hundred Pilates Studio

Joseph Pilates created his exercises as a way to increase overall fitness for anyone. However, because graceful, flowing movements are part of the full Pilates exercises, and because they build strength without building bulky muscles, they were quickly adopted by dancers and gymnasts. Runners didn’t consider the benefits of Pilates until it was more widespread.

For example, Elena one of our expert teachers at the Hundred Pilates Studio in Dubai who has recently and proudly completed her 10K Dubai Marathon journey, reveals the benefits of cross-training Pilates with her running regime and how it has helped her reach the finish line:

“So I decided to run my first 10k after many years of completely ignoring and excluding running from my everyday routine. Online research and analyzing movement patterns of my clients who started doing Pilates to improve their running technique helped me to understand that my main goal is to prevent a possible injury and enjoy every mile of my 10k journey. Being a Pilates teacher and practitioner for years, I got spoiled by a variety of movements and amazing ranges that the contrology method can bring into your body during the practice. Hence getting into a quite repetitive routine like running was already a big challenge. I ran for a good cause starting my training with Pink 10k application (breast cancer awareness campaign ) that got me from a combination of 2 min jog with 2 min walk to my cherished 10k in 4 month.

I must admit it was HARD and so different from what my body got used to until the moment I relaxed and started enjoying the movements, the same way I enjoy it at the Pilates Studio. Thinking about the proper alignment, moving from the centre, breathing, engaging my core, feeling my limbs being extensions of my belly and my spine and being present in my body every single second with every single step I took.

I had to spend many hours in the studio working with Pilates foot corrector to strengthen my feet and ankles that helped me to distribute the impact and weight bearing more gradually in order to avoid knee/hip injury. I focused on a lot of core work and upper body to keep my posture perfectly supported while running. Not to mentioned how many stretches on different pieces of Pilates equipment I had to do in these 4 months pre-race. I still can’t understand how people jog and only spend only 5-10min doing very basic stretches. My advice is to warm up and STRETCH! And the more sophisticated and varied your stretches are THE BETTER and less chances of injury!” – Elena

Pilates Foot Corrector

While all runners should stretch before they run, some runners’ training programs don’t focus enough on stretching. Strength and endurance training alone won’t provide the progressive stretching that regular Pilates workouts will. Insufficiently stretched muscles can cause many problems for a runner, slowing them down at best, or leading to a serious injury at worst.

Just like stretching, Pilates helps runners focus on their breathing. This benefit is synergistic with the stretching because warming up the core helps the intercostal muscles that connect the ribs. This makes it easier to breathe smoothly using all available lung capacity.

Stretching – the key to injury prevention!

And on a final encouraging advice and note from Elena….

“I always encourage my clients to stay active and cross-train (add new workout varieties) to their fitness routine as I truly believe that movement heels and keeps you young and fully alive. Dedicate yourself to the movement and you will start enjoying your life and appreciating your body so much more!”

Discover how Pilates can help you with your current fitness regime by visiting our website at : www.thehundred.ae